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Albert Russell
Professor Albert Russell is the scientist responsible for much of Liberl's technological advancements. 48 years before the event of the game, Professor Epstein, the scientist who discovered orbal technology, died and Russell, who was his understudy at the time, leaves the sovereign state of Leman and returns to Liberl a year later. Russell's efforts to introduce orbal technology in Liberl are initially met with a rather chilly reception. Realizing that he won't be able to push through such a major change on his own, he decides to enlist help in the clockmakers' town of Zeiss. Forming a partnership with the Zeiss Clockmaker's Union, he and his partners establish the Zeiss Engineering Factory, which later becomes the Zeiss Central Factory. Three years after its founding, Liberl's King Edgar III visits the factory and, after an inspection, donates a large sum of money to promote its research. This is when Russell becomes the first factory chief. Since people outside of Zeiss are still suspicious of orbal technology, Russell builds an orbal water pump in the village of Elmo to show how orbal-powered devices can improve everyday life. During the years afterwards, Russell takes part in the construction of many revolutionary inventions such as the orbal engine powering the Langland Bridge in Ruan as well as the invention of orbal-powered airships. Russell remains in charge of the Central Factory for 22 years after which he's succeeded by Murdock. Rather than retiring altogether, Russell instead returns to full-time engineering though on a more non-committal basis than before, usually just participating in the parts of a project he's interested in and leaving the rest to the other engineers and occasionally abandoning projects to focus on his own inventions and experiments, which Murdock and the other factory workers aren't always happy with. Ten years after Russell's departure as factory chief, the Hundred Days War breaks out. While Central Factory is occupied by the Erebonian invaders, Russell has retreated to Leiston Fortress and develops the orbal battleships that end up being used in the counter-offensive led by Colonel Cassius Bright that turns the tide of the war. Russell ends up meeting Cassius' children 10 years after the end of the war. After receiving a package containing a mysterious black orbment that has the power to shut down other other nearby orbments, Estelle and Joshua decide to travel to Zeiss in order to have it examined by experts. Upon reaching Zeiss, they meet up with Factory Chief Murdock who tells them that the person referred to on the note that came with the black orbment most likely is Professor Russell and calls his granddaughter Tita, whom Estelle and Joshua met in the Kaldia tunnel earlier that day, and have her take them to Russell, who has his own workshop in town. When the Bright siblings first arrive at Russell's place, he's just in the middle of finishing up development on a brand-new orbment he developed and is so completely engaged in his experiments that he won't even listen to his granddaughter when she introduces the two bracers and instead ends up recruiting all three of them in the testing process. After the testing of the new orbment, a shielding device capable of negating orbal biosensors, Estelle and Joshua finally get a chance to tell the professor about the purpose of their visit. After failing to penetrate the orbment's frame with his steelcutter, Russell decides to subject the black orbment to a measurement scan in order to deduce its purpose, but rather than reveal the orbment's function, the scanner activates the orbment's shutdown power and the effect ends up spreading throughout the entire town, resulting in a city-wide blackout. After reluctantly shutting down the machine, which halts the orbment's effects and restores power to the city, Russell is promptly confronted by a furious Murdock who yells at him for causing trouble again with his experiments, suggesting it's not the first time the professor scientific exploits cause collateral damage. When Estelle wakes up the next day, Russell has already left for the factory, eager to resume tests on the orbment. When she, Joshua and Tita visit the professor in the factory's workshop, he explains that since the black orbment interferes with all other orbments nearby, including the orbal-powered circular saw in the room, they'll need a type of power source resistent to the orbment's effects. On Russell's request, Estelle and Joshua retrieve a combustion engine and some fuel so they'll be able to power the saw without setting off the orbment. After connecting the saw to the engine and testing it out for a bit, resulting in a tiny scratch on the orbment's frame, Russell concludes they'll eventually be able to open the orbment using this method, though it'll probably take a while. At that moment, Murdock comes in and informs the professor that Mrs. Mao, the owner of the Maple Leaf Inn in Elmo, requests his help in repairing the pump. Russell balks at the idea of having to interrupt the research, but acknowledges that he's the only one capable of repairing the pump, due to its age. Tita, however, points out that she's familiar with the pump's system as well since her grandfather brought her along on earlier maintenance trips. After Estelle and Joshua offer to escort Tita there so she won't have to fear monster attacks, Russell accepts. While Tita, Estelle and Joshua head for Elmo, he stays behind to work on the orbment. As evening approaches and Russell realizes it'll still take some time before he's done with the orbment, he contacts the Maple Leaf Inn and tells Mrs. Mao that Tita and the Bright siblings can stay there while he continues working. Russell, and the rest of the factory, are confronted with a nasty surprise the next morning when the building suddenly fills with smoke, prompting an immediate evacuation. Russell, however, either stays behind or is left behind in the panic and when Tita, Estelle and Joshua enter the factory in search of him, they eventually find him sedated and being dragged away by special ops soldiers. Escaping to the first floor in the elevator just in time, the kidnappers put on Royal Guard uniforms, hide the professor's unconcious body in a large bag and make their exit through the town. Estelle, Joshua and Agate manage to briefly catch up with the kidnappers on the roof of the Carnelia Tower, but due to the special ops having an airship ready and Tita accidentally distracting the bracers, the culprits manage to get away with Russell. Russell is taken to Leiston Fortress where Colonel Richard asks him to keep researching the black orbment. The professor does so and eventually manages to figure out how to control the orbment's function, though he remains unable to open the device. His research triggers the black orbment's shutdown effect several times and one of those times is right when Estelle and Joshua, who came to investigate after seeing a photo of the kidnappers' airship above the fortress, are at Leiston's front gate. The sudden loss of orbal power throughout the fortress alerts the bracers to Russell's and the black orbment's presence and they quickly return to Zeiss to report and plan a rescue mission. With the help of the sensor shielding device Russell designed earlier, operated by Tita, the bracers manage to infiltrate Leiston Fortress where they witness a conversation between the professor and the man behind his imprisonment, Colonel Richard. Richard thanks him for his investigation of the black orbment, which he calls the gospel, and assures him he'll be released in time. Russell reacts with hostility, especially after Captain Amalthea threatens Tita, but also expresses curiosity as to where Richard found a thing like the gospel and what he intends to do with it. Richard, however, remains vague on that part. After Richard and his subordinates leave Leiston, Estelle, Joshua, Tita and Agate subdue the guards and enter the research wing in order to free the professor. After a joyous reunion with Tita and some barbs with Agate, Russell accompanies the bracers, making sure to take the stolen Capel Unit along so the Intelligence Division won't be able to make use of it any longer. The initial escape plan is cut short after one of the defeated special ops guards regains consciousness briefly and raises the alarm. With the wharf blocked off, Russell, Tita and the bracers seek refuge inside the command center where they briefly meet up with the imprisoned Capuas and during the resulting conversation, the professor can't help himself and asks the sky bandits about the specs of their ship. Unable to find a way out of the command center, the group threatens to get cornered before receiving unexpected help from Major Cid, the garrison commander, who hides them in his office. After filling them in on the fact that Colonel Richard essentially took command of the entire Royal Army, he lets them escape through a secret escape tunnel from his office to a hidden dock underneath the fortress. Taking a brief moment to catch their bearings on the shores near the fortress, Agate decides that it's safest for him, Russell and Tita to slip away and lay low somewhere without Estelle and Joshua being implicated in it. Estelle initially protests, but Russell says he has an important mission he wants them to do. Explaining that retrieving the gospel was the true purpose behind the attack on Central Factory and that Colonel Richard intends to use it in Grancel in some way, the professor asks Estelle and Joshua to alert Queen Alicia to this development. Having conducted an informal and top-secret investigation into a strong orbal reaction emanating from a mysterious device underneath Grancel Castle, Russell suspects Richard of wanting to use the gospel to activate the device in some way, though he keeps this from Estelle and Joshua and merely states it's extremely important that they succeed. After saying goodbye, Agate leads Russell and Tita away from Leiston Fortress. The three of them lay low for a bit, but eventually happen upon a cargo freighter heading for Grancel and Agate decides hiding in plain sight might be the safest course of action, so they stow away and make it to the Bracer Guild in the royal city. Receiving the lowdown from Elnan, the three of them hurry to the castle and Russell heads straight for the treasury, meeting up with the queen and the bracers. After getting filled in on what happened, Russell picks the orbal lock of the elevator and he accompanies Estelle, Joshua and their companions to the ruins underneath the castle. After a base camp is set up at the foot of the elevator, Russell acts as the group's field support, selling supplies and synthesizing quartz. When Richard activates the altar at the bottom of the ruins and the gospel temporarily causes a complete orbal shutdown throughout the area, Russell and the others prepare to head down, only to be faced with a large horde of archaisms. They manage to defeat their assailants, but by the time they reach the bottom, the final battle has already concluded. Upon the destruction of the ring guardian and the arrest of Colonel Richard, the group heads back to the surface. After the thwarting of the coup, Russell and Tita stay in Grancel for a week and are seen relaxing in Baral's coffee house during the Birthday Celebration. Russell complains that a life on the run had been hard on someone his age, but expresses gratitude and respect for Agate, who was by their side through it all. After the conclusion of the festivities, he and Tita retire to their guestroom in the castle where he tells Estelle that the sealed area underneath the castle will be thoroughly investigated and he intends to return Zeiss afterwards in order to finish the research on the gospel, which will hopefully shed light on what effects the breaking of the seal will have. Having entrusted the black orbment into Cassius' care, Russell assures Estelle it will be kept safe this time. Albert Russell is widely known for his great intellect and vast knowledge of all things orbment-related. His role in helping Liberl develop into a technologically advanced nation has earned him the title "Father of the Orbal Revolution" and resulted in him getting a permanent place on the Royal Assembly, which discusses matters of state with Queen Alicia. While famous throughout the country for his skills and brains, he's also somewhat infamous in Zeiss for his eccentric personality. While still very much a mentor figure to all engineers in the city, Russell nowadays ony spends his time on things that interest him, which aren't always the things that would benefit society most. If a project starts boring him, he isn't adverse to walking away from it to spend his time on something else, whether it's finished or not. This was the case with the Arseille's engine project, which he was meant to participate in until the end, but which he left after finishing the design of its central power orbment. In addition, his experiments frequently cause collateral damage, like explosions or flying glass. While his neighbors remain supportive, Factory Chief Murdock is less than thrilled with the exploits of his old teacher. While Russell's considered a genius when it comes to technology, he can be rather hard to deal with as a person. He tends to focus on his research to the exclusion of everything else around him and has the habit of ignoring everything and everyone once he gets caught up in his experiments. He also tends to be absent-minded and a bit forgetful regarding things that lie outside his immediate interest. When dealing with other people, he tends to be be straight-forward, blunt and quick to speak his mind without much consideration for tact or etiquette. When confronted with and forced to rely on the equally tactless Agate for some time, this creates tension between the two and they frequently exchange barbs, though Russell nevertheless ends up respecting Agate for his competence and dedication. With his son and daughter-in-law both working as orbal engineers abroad, Russell is acting as guardian of their daughter (and his granddaughter) Tita, who's living with him. A prodigy in orbal technology herself at the age of 12, Tita shares her grandfather's love of technology and frequently helps him with his experiments at the workshop where they live. Despite the large age gap, Russell and Tita are extremely close and Tita's more down-to-earth and socially aware personality frequently helps ground her grandfather whenever he gets too carried away. Relations Albert Russell is the grandfather of Tita Having been the Central Factory's first chief, he's the predecessor of Factory Chief Murdock He's also a childhood friend of Mrs. Mao Category:NPCs Category:NPCs (Zeiss) Category:NPCs (Leiston Fortress) Category:NPCs (Grancel) Category:NPCs (Chapter 3 FC) Category:NPCs (Chapter 4 FC)